


Operation Julerose

by snekwami



Series: Operation Valentines 2k18 [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alix shows up for like 2 seconds to be a meme, F/F, Femslash February, Fluff, Valentine's Day, but the important part is the Julerose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 21:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13667739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snekwami/pseuds/snekwami
Summary: It's Valentine's Day again, and Rose has a plan.





	Operation Julerose

**Author's Note:**

> This is honestly one of my favourite ships ever and I don't write enough of it - especially from Rose's point of view! So here, have the Julerose side of things. (There's another Kimax fic this year too, hehe.) Happy Valentine's Day - and HAPPY FEMSLASH FEBRUARY!!

“I’m sure you can do it!” Rose said, giving Kim her brightest supportive smile and thumbs up. “I believe in you!”

He smiled back at her, putting the little brooch box back in his pocket. “Thanks Rose. And you can do the thing too. In fact, I _dare_ you to do it!”

She giggled. “You don’t need to dare me! I’ll do it anyway. I think I’m ready this year.”

“Good. Lemme know how it goes later, okay?” He patted her on the arm, thankfully gentler than he usually did with people, and then walked off.

Rose turned back to her locker, taking a deep breath. Today was the day she had been waiting for – _Valentine’s Day_. Today she would make her true feelings known. Hardly anyone knew the truth, that today she was planning to confess her feelings to someone who no one would expect her to be in love with, someone so much closer than all the usual fairy-tale princes she was always chasing after, someone who was so different from her she couldn’t help but be drawn in–

“Hey Rose.”

Rose jumped, recognizing that low, monotonous voice anywhere. Sure enough, she turned around to see her best friend Juleka standing there waiting for her. Just the sight of her sent a spike of adrenaline through Rose’s bloodstream, so strong her brain went blank for a few seconds and she had to turn away again just to compose herself.

“Hi Juleka!” She put on the best normal voice she could, despite nothing about today being normal. “Just the person I wanted to see!” She picked her bag up, closed her locker, and then forced herself into composure before walking over to Juleka’s side.

“Really? Why did you want to see me?”

Rose’s throat ran dry. There was a very obvious, easily explainable reason for why she wanted to see Juleka today outside of school. But now just did not seem like the right time or place to say it! And plus, Rose already had a plan. She had gone over it with Kim again and again over the past week or so, making sure it was sweet enough, but not too overly complicated. A plan that was just right. And perhaps Kim had not been the best person to help her with something like that, but at least he was going through a similar thing of his own. It had at least been nice to have a friend to confide in.

“I wanted you to come with me,” Rose managed to say, linking her arm up with Juleka’s. It was a gesture she did often enough to feel totally natural. And yet, right now, it upped her anxiousness too. “I have to do the bubble thing and I want to take you with me this time.”

The “bubble thing” was somewhat of a Valentine’s Day tradition for Rose. One year when she was much younger, Nino had given her a bubble-blowing stick on this very day as a gift of friendship. Rose had run off to a spot overlooking a grand view of the Eiffel Tower, one of the most romantic places in the whole world, and spent the afternoon blowing bubbles up in the air while thinking of the boyband member she was crushing on and wishing that these Special Love Bubbles would somehow, magically, reach him. That she was blowing bubbles directly at her one true love.

It was silly, really, just a childish thing. But Rose had done it every year since then. She would return to that one spot, think about whoever she was in love with, and then blow the bubbles and wish with all her heart that this might actually achieve something. Magic had turned out to be real, what with superheroes and supervillains suddenly appearing out of nowhere, so it wasn’t all that far-fetched, as ridiculous as it seemed sometimes. Last year it had even somewhat worked – she really did get to meet Prince Ali just a few months later! So perhaps there was something in it after all.

“Okay,” Juleka mumbled, quiet as usual. It was always impossible to tell what she was truly thinking under that mask of composure and curtain of hair obscuring half her face. So pretty, so mysterious, so easy to stare at for hours and still not understand any better, just becoming more and more enraptured with every passing second…

Rose fought off a blush. “Alright then, let’s go!” With Juleka’s arm in hers, they walked off.

 

Along the way, Rose really should have talked more. Usually she could not keep quiet around Juleka – always wanting to make her thoughts known, always wanting to keep her friend informed and entertained, always having so much to excitedly tell her about. But today things were different. She couldn’t get her mind off what she was going to do today, and all sorts of crazy scenarios were running through her brain. What if there was another akuma attack this year? What if _she_ ended up being the akuma? Princess Fragrance had been bad enough!

“Are you okay?”

The sound of Juleka’s voice snapped Rose out of her daydreams. She turned to see Juleka looking at her in concern, that purple streak of hair fluttering around in the cool winter breeze, her breath curling up into mist around her pale face.

“J-just nervous.” Rose’s voice came out more like a squeak.

“Why?”

“I… It’s…”

A very simple reason, obviously. But one that she could not say yet. Not quite.

“It’s a girl,” she said quickly. “The person I’m blowing my bubbles to this year. A g-girl.”

Her face was heating up and she knew it. Hopefully Juleka might think that the red face was due to the cold instead.

Juleka was silent for a few seconds. Rose knew better than to think she would be offended by such a statement, considering everything else she knew about her, but the thought still taunted her.

“Relatable,” Juleka said finally. Now her face was tinged red too. Rose relaxed a little, enough to lapse back into her ordinary talkative self.

“And it f-feels so different,” she gushed, her voice still sounding oddly high, “because I know her. I mean, in person! Usually it’s boys. And far away ones, larger than life, like celebrities and fictional characters. But those ones always felt less real.”

And less painful, too. Being in love with someone unobtainable was comforting somehow, knowing that there was no real chance of success – or failure. It was easy to daydream about unrealistic fairy-tale scenarios. They would never actually happen.

But this… this was new. This time, Rose could actually do something. It was tangible, obtainable, and _utterly terrifying_. Real life love was so different to the fairy-tales she loved to read. This time, she actually had a _chance_.

“And she’s so wonderful,” she carried on, unable to stop now, “and she’s so gorgeous and kind and sweet and deserves someone amazing. And I don’t even know how I fell in love with her! I just want the best for her! She’s just the most lovely person ever!”

Rose hadn’t even noticed that her walking speed had increased until she almost slipped over on the icy ground, with Juleka stopping her at the last second. Whoops. Thinking about it all had got her rather carried away.

“She sounds awesome,” Juleka said.

“Yeah… she really is…”

_Awesome_ was an understatement. And yet that was the word that Juleka always used to describe everything she liked. Awesome. So maybe it fit after all.

 

They soon reached the terrace area that Rose came to every year on this day. Hardly anyone else was around, and the Eiffel Tower was in plain view out in front. Paris looked wonderful at this time of year, with the tiny flecks of snow bringing a sparkly glint to the air. It truly was the most romantic city in the world.

Rose’s heart was bubbling up with overwhelming emotions again, so much she hardly felt like she could speak. But that was okay; the plan did not involve speaking. It was going to turn out fine.

She reached into her bag and pulled out the little bottle of bubble mixture that Nino had given her again for her birthday. It was sort of like a running tradition between them now, and she was glad for it.

Right… now to just do the final step of the plan.

Rose twisted the cap on the bottle, but the mittens she was wearing merely slid right over it. Oh, of course, silly her. She took the mittens off and put them back in her coat pocket, then tried again, her fingers shaking. The cap was on tight and still wasn’t budging.

“Need a hand with that?” Juleka asked. “Your fingers must be cold.”

Cold fingers! That wasn’t the reason Rose’s hands were jittering around on their own accord, unable to get open a simple little bottle, a child’s plaything…

Juleka stepped forwards and wrapped her long, elegant fingers around Rose’s. Rose breathed in sharply – how desperately close they were! She knew her face was on fire, practically steaming, and just stared down at their intertwined fingers as Juleka twisted the lid and got the bottle open.

“There you go.”

And now Juleka stepped back again, hands to herself once more. Rose ignored how cold and empty her own hands felt suddenly, out of Juleka’s warmth. That wasn’t what she needed to focus on right now. It was time for the plan.

Hands still shaking, she dipped the bubble wand into the bottle, somehow almost spilling some on herself thanks to her nerves, then lifted it to her lips and…

…and stopped.

Why did she stop?! Come on! She couldn’t freeze up and chicken out _now!_ It was so easy! So simple! This plan was specifically designed so that she wouldn’t have to say anything! All she had to do was blow the bubbles right at _Juleka_ , and then it would be clear how she felt! It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult!

But it was. Juleka was standing there watching, that one red eye fixed on Rose, that long dyed hair flowing in the wind, undetectable thoughts running through that pretty head. What was she thinking? What would happen? Rose had already overthought this part many times – Juleka wouldn’t mind knowing that Rose had a crush on her, they were best friends after all, so she would take it well no matter what.

So then why was Rose still frozen like a stupid statue? Why was this still _so hard?!_

“Rose? Are you going to do it?”

Juleka’s expression was now one of concern, wondering what was worrying her friend. It was too much. Rose scrambled to think of something to say, only for the bottle to slip out of her clumsy grasp, clattering onto the ground and spilling the bubble liquid everywhere. That seemed to snap Rose into action.

“Nonononono I’m so clumsy, why did I drop it, why–” She crouched to the ground to pick it up, but now the liquid that was everywhere had made it too slippery to hold. The plan was falling apart. Rose sat on the ground now, her eyes stinging. There was no need for her to cry – from Juleka’s point of view, all it would look like was Rose crying at dropping something! – but she always cried far too easily. Her emotions had a habit of always getting the better of her, now matter how much she tried to stop them.

Juleka sat down right in front of her, just about avoiding the spilled bubble mix. “Rose, seriously, are you okay?”

Rose dared to look up into that one intense red eye that was visible to see that Juleka really did look worried about her. All that did was bring her even more heartbreak. Wasn’t love supposed to be perfect? Wasn’t everything supposed to go just swimmingly? But that was only true in fairy-tales. This was real life, and real life _hurt_. In real life you had to deal with things not working out the way you planned.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, lowering her eyes again.

“For what?”

“I… I d-dropped the…”

She couldn’t even finish, but she didn’t need to. The next second Juleka had reached forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Rose, I know it’s more than just a dropped bottle that’s bothering you. But, um, it’s okay. I’m here.”

Oh, sweet Juleka. Wonderful, precious, _perfect_ Juleka who never knew what to say to people, who didn’t know how to comfort someone in need, and yet did her best anyway. Amazing, kind, beautiful Juleka. _Her_ Juleka.

“We can do something fun if you want,” she was saying now, still so close her fringe was tickling Rose’s face, so close her perfume was enveloping her, so close that the temperature may as well be summer rather than winter. “We can go back to my place and watch Disney movies, and I’ll do your nails, and we can bake cookies and do each other’s makeup, and we can forget all about whatever’s bothering–”

“I love you, Juleka!”

Rose sat frozen still. It had just slipped out.

Juleka pulled out of the hug a little, enough to look at Rose’s face, though Rose didn’t dare to look back. For several seconds there was silence.

“You… you love me?”

It was impossible to tell what she was thinking from her voice alone, as it always was. Up until now Rose had been managing to hold back the tears, but now the floodgates opened.

“Yes Juleka, I do love you! I’ve b-been in love for a while now and I w-wanted to show you! With the bubbles! That’s why I was nervous, and th-that’s why – that’s why I freaked out when I d-dropped the – the–”

Rose could no longer go on. She sat there looking down at her own clumsy hands, tears running down her cheeks, wondering how something as beautiful as love could ever hurt someone this much. Juleka was silent again for several seconds. But then she did something Rose could never have expected.

She took Rose’s face in her hands, pulled her forwards, and kissed her.

For years Rose had daydreamed about her first kiss being a magical, fairy-tale moment. Truthfully, she had known it was never going to be quite like that. But she had still been fairly idealistic about it. Perhaps it would happen at the end of a date with a cute guy, when he was dropping her off back on her doorstep, or perhaps under the mistletoe at a Christmas party. She had _not_ expected it to instead be with a tall, antisocial, goth girl, sitting in a puddle of bubble mixture, out in the freezing cold, while crying.

And yet…

It still did feel a little bit magical.

Juleka pulled away and let go again, looking nervously at the ground beside them, her face bright red. “Rose… um… will you be my Valentine?”

Rose was still slightly catatonic in shock, but now it occurred to her. _Juleka loved her back._

She nodded.

“Awesome!” Juleka looked at her again, smiling now, though she still seemed to be nervous. “And, uh, will you be my girlfriend too?”

This couldn’t really be happening, could it? Of course Rose had considered this as an outcome – that they would get together. But then she had dismissed it as one of her silly fantasy scenarios, and decided that it was more realistic to prepare for her love to be unrequited. But now it _wasn’t_. It was real.

“Of course I’ll be your girlfriend,” she said, a smile breaking onto her face too. Even out of all the scenarios she had considered, she never expected Juleka to be the one asking her. “And I’m sorry I got so nervous around you, you’re my best friend and I shouldn’t be nervous…”

“What? It’s fine! It was… um… kinda cute…”

Oh, thank goodness Juleka seemed to think so. Rose took hold of one of her hands. “You’re cute too!”

“Aw, Rose…”

Rose was about to say something else when she stopped, noticing that a flower petal had landed on Juleka’s head. And another fell between them. And now more flower petals were falling, all around them. She turned to see that their tiny classmate Alix Kubdel was standing there on her skates a little distance away, throwing flower petals at them, a deadpan expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?!” Rose said. “I thought I told you to go throw the flower petals at Kim when he asks out Max!”

“You mean Kim loves Max back?” Juleka muttered.

Alix grinned. “I can multitask, you know. I’ve been hired as Official Flower Petal Thrower for a lot of people today. Which means I have to see a lot of icky mushy stuff, but at least I get to be a meme, which is kinda cool I guess. I have my own website for it now and everything, it’s great. Anyway, I’m really happy for you two. Have fun!”

Throwing one last handful of petals at them – _rose_ petals, to be precise – she skated off again. Rose turned back to Juleka, giggling a little.

“So Juleka, the most amazing and wonderful girlfriend and best friend in the entire world…”

Juleka was blushing so much at that, Rose almost felt too flustered to continue. But she pushed on with her question.

“…shall we go on a date?”

Too much of a blushy mess to really say anything, Juleka nodded and squeezed Rose’s hand a little tighter. Before standing up, Rose pulled Juleka into a long hug. As often as they did hug, it had never really felt like _this_ before. It was so new, so different. Rose really had never thought her first real experience with love would be anything like this. It was nothing like the fairy-tale she’d grown up expecting.

But whatever, really. Juleka was better than any fairy-tale. Juleka was _real_.


End file.
